Britain set for downpours one week after hosepipe ban came into force

A week after the hosepipe ban came into force, Britain is set to get a drenching â for the rest of the week.

Soaked: Shoppers in Plymouth seek shelter (Picture: SWNS)

Rain is expected to fall right across the country at least until Saturday as night time temperatures fall to 1C (33.8F) in places.

Low pressure and cold air spreading down from the north will cause rain clouds to develop when it hits warmer air in the south this week.

Prolonged showers are likely in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Plymouth, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow. But at least there will be sunny spells in between.

Although the sun shone in London and across central England yesterday Twitter users reported snow on the Pennines and Scottish users shared snow photos. James Devlin tweeted: âRaining, snowing, windy, you can tell I live in Scotland.â

Danger: Snow on higher ground in County Durham made driving difficult (Picture: North News)

Edinburgh was deluged by 40mm (1.6in) of rain in the 24 hours to yesterday evening.

Another 50mm (2in) of snow is due on higher ground in Scotland today, with flurries tomorrow and snow at lower levels and higher areas of northern England on Friday.

Looking ahead, Saturdayâs John Smithâs Grand National at Aintree in Merseyside looks like being hard going for the horses.

Aintree clerk Andrew Tulloch switched the going on the course to âsoft, good to soft in placesâ. It is the softest since 2001. âShowers mean the ground could get even softer,â he said.

Met Office forecaster Helen Chivers said: âEveryone going outside this week will need a raincoat due to April showers every day, some with hail and thunder mixed in.â

The only people cheering are drought-hit farmers. At the start of April soil moisture levels were low in the Anglian, south east and the Midlands.